Gender gap is very costly

Protesters demonstrate as part of a nationwide women's strike against gender inequality that coincides with International Women's Day in Madrid

INTERNATIONAL - Gender inequality in the workplace could cost $160trillion (R2013trln) in lost earnings globally, a World Bank study showed on Wednesday, as pressure to address the pay gap grows.

That represents the difference between the combined lifetime income of everyone of working age in the world today - known as human capital wealth - and what it would be if women earned as much as men.

Investing in women and girls would help to increase the wealth of both high- and low-income states, said the report’s author Quentin Wodon, lead economist with the World Bank Group.

“Everybody would benefit from gender equality,” he said. The $160trln figure represents around 2percent of global gross domestic product and amounts to an average disparity of $23620 per person globally.